Patience and Process

Tomorrow is our last day in the rehearsal studio. As of next week we're tech'ing in the theater, and pretty soon it'll be previews.

The last 4 weeks have been truly Dickensian: it was the best of times, the worst of times, at times time flew by, at times it crawled...

I haven't slept much. I don't think anyone has. Too much adrenalin. Too many thoughts and ideas about character and structure and plot and emotion and on and on and on. Even tonight I think I've just discovered the underbelly of a scene with my Uncle the Marquis that I am excited to try at tomorrow morning's run through.

I have learned that patience is key. And I am the least patient person I know. But putting a new epic musical on its feet is a massive undertaking. As equally exhausting as it is thrilling. And as I have learned, when you're consistently impatient, your creativity shuts down. It gets locked. You want answers before exploring the questions. And it is the exploring of the questions that will make your acting compelling. In the exploring, you will try things you may never have imagined, you will find the pool of choices in which you will swim in front of an audience.

If you are patient you will experience the process AND the results, instead of simply being frustrated by the elusive answers.